Paint - 2016 CX5 vs 2015 CRV - a simple observation

[banjos-n-beer]

I see a lot of folks on here commenting how the Mazda paint seems to be a bit on the thin side. Videos have been produced that showcase how Mazda has moved to a more environmentally positive painting process, which some believe has led to a poorer quality of paint. So after 2 years of ownership, with nearly identical commutes and storage locations, here is a simple observation on the paint between our 2 vehicles.

Chip count- the Mazda wins this one hands down, and that's not a positive thing. I haven't really gone out and counted, but I would easily guess the CX5 has ~5-10 times the number of small nicks and chips in the hood and front bumper vs the CRV. I don't know why it is, but it almost seems like every time I glance at the hood I find another one... and I never recall anything serious hitting the hood. Yeah, lots of crap gets kicked up during snowstorms from the plow trucks, and a lot of our roads are worse for wear and pitted with potholes due to the constant freezing/thawing of our roads. But the CRV paint seems to shrug a lot of potential nicks off. Strange, but just the way its worked out for us.

Now, having said that, here's the kicker. While the CRV only has a handful of chips, all that have happened on the hood seem to have been deep enough to expose the under metal. As a result, there are tiny little rust spots in the center of these chips. Despite the Mazda looking like a greasy pimple-divoted teenager, not a single chip has produced any rust. We have not attempted to use any paint pens or fixes to the blemishes. Both vehicles are silver in color and it does appear that the Honda paint is a bit thicker. But in the end, what difference does the extra thickness (or appearance of it) make if these tiny marks produce rust spots? In the beginning I was quite annoyed by what appeared to be a serious difference in paint quality. But at the end of the day, if I'm going to have stupid chips everywhere, I would prefer that they don't expose the metal underneath.

I am by no means a paint expert. Hell, my GF doesn't even trust me to go to the hardware store to order paint because I always screw up the type of gloss she wants. But I figured I'd share this experience as paint does seem to be a relative common topic of conversation around here.

YMMV

 

[ColoradoDriver]

I see a lot of folks on here commenting how the Mazda paint seems to be a bit on the thin side. Videos have been produced that showcase how Mazda has moved to a more environmentally positive painting process, which some believe has led to a poorer quality of paint. So after 2 years of ownership, with nearly identical commutes and storage locations, here is a simple observation on the paint between our 2 vehicles.

Chip count- the Mazda wins this one hands down, and that's not a positive thing. I haven't really gone out and counted, but I would easily guess the CX5 has ~5-10 times the number of small nicks and chips in the hood and front bumper vs the CRV. I don't know why it is, but it almost seems like every time I glance at the hood I find another one... and I never recall anything serious hitting the hood. Yeah, lots of crap gets kicked up during snowstorms from the plow trucks, and a lot of our roads are worse for wear and pitted with potholes due to the constant freezing/thawing of our roads. But the CRV paint seems to shrug a lot of potential nicks off. Strange, but just the way its worked out for us.

Now, having said that, here's the kicker. While the CRV only has a handful of chips, all that have happened on the hood seem to have been deep enough to expose the under metal. As a result, there are tiny little rust spots in the center of these chips. Despite the Mazda looking like a greasy pimple-divoted teenager, not a single chip has produced any rust. We have not attempted to use any paint pens or fixes to the blemishes. Both vehicles are silver in color and it does appear that the Honda paint is a bit thicker. But in the end, what difference does the extra thickness (or appearance of it) make if these tiny marks produce rust spots? In the beginning I was quite annoyed by what appeared to be a serious difference in paint quality. But at the end of the day, if I'm going to have stupid chips everywhere, I would prefer that they don't expose the metal underneath.

I am by no means a paint expert. Hell, my GF doesn't even trust me to go to the hardware store to order paint because I always screw up the type of gloss she wants. But I figured I'd share this experience as paint does seem to be a relative common topic of conversation around here.

YMMV

Fully agree.

My CX-5 is riddled with paint chips all over the front of the hood. That said, it is never deep enough for rust.

 

[Buzzman12]

This paint problem that I've heard and read about is one of the things that is making me hesitate buying a Mazda.
The rust issues they had, that are supposedly fixed, is another reason I'm holding back.
I live in the great white north, and Mazda's are rusting like mad up here.
It's not unusual to see a less than 10 year old Mazda 3 with huge holes in it. Scary stuff.

 

[Seminole]

The number of chips I got on my 2014 with all my mileage being highway was one of the reasons I got the front end of my 2017 clearbra'd when I got it.

But to echo your comments, none of the ones on the hood were ever deep enough to expose metal. Also I used Dr. Colorchip to fill in a good majority of them and I highly recommend it if none of the chips are very large.

 

[azntaiji]

Good observations/comparison, makes me feel a little bit better with the rock chips already on my NEW 2017 CX-5 :'(

 

[mazdadude]

Interesting observations.

My 2009 Mazdaspeed3's hood is the same... lots of tiny single layer chips, from 283,000 miles of freeway, but there is no rust.

So evidently, the anti-corrosion primer is very strong and well bonded to the metal, but the rock chips cause the outer paint layer to detach from the primer layer.